Japan does not rule out any options in countering excessive volatility in foreign exchange markets, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki says, adding the government is monitoring developments with a heightened sense of urgency.
Budget requests by Japanese government offices for the next fiscal year likely hit a record of around 114 trillion yen ($780 billion), a Kyodo News tally shows, as increased debt-servicing costs added to the uptick in defense and social security spending.
Japan's spending to help the economy mitigate the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerating inflation will likely total around 68.5 trillion yen ($471 billion) in the four years to fiscal 2023, a Kyodo News analysis showed Saturday.
The Bank of Japan is considering forecasting consumer prices will rise by around 2 percent in fiscal 2025 from a year earlier in its next price outlook report, to be released after a policy-setting meeting later this month, sources familiar with the matter say.